Francis Ngannou’s coach, Eric Nicksick, has spoken about his student’s immense generosity following the recent clash with Tyson Fury. Several months ago, Ngannou faced off against the WBC champion in an epic crossover event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. ‘The Predator’ was rumored to make over six times more for this fight as compared to his previous UFC fight against Ciryl Gane.
In a recent interview with MMAJunkie, Nicksick confirmed that he was paid more for the Tyson Fury training camp than he had been paid by any other fighter, for any other training camp. The head coach of Xtreme Couture MMA was candid about Francis Ngannou’s kindness during the interview. He shared that Ngannou’s payment was more than he expected and that it changed his life both professionally and monetarily. This generous act allowed Nicksick to enjoy his coaching career while also being a better dad and husband, including taking his kids out to celebrate his daughter’s 16th birthday and purchasing a new car.
Ngannou’s grappling skillset has greatly improved since he began training MMA in 2012, through countless hours in the training room working with high-level wrestlers and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners. Gilbert Burns, who has one of the best BJJ backgrounds of any UFC fighter, recently shared a story from several years ago when he rolled with ‘The Predator.’ The pair trained at Blackzilians, a gym that closed in 2017, which previously housed the likes of Kamaru Usman and Vitor Belfort.
In Burns’ appearance on the JAXXON PODCAST, he detailed his experience training with Francis Ngannou. Burns shared that during a grappling session, he got Ngannou’s arm, and despite Ngannou not tapping out, Burns ended up popping his arm. Burns was initially afraid of how the formidable fighter would react, but Ngannou turned out to be cool about the situation.
The generosity and dedication displayed by Francis Ngannou throughout his career is truly inspiring. As evident from Nicksick’s testimony and Burns’ story, Ngannou consistently goes the extra mile in both his fighting and his relationships with others in the MMA world.
